Shikied out
by Galacticexplorer12
Summary: ... His Shiki claim that she's part of the family, but a demonic air clings to her fur. And what could be a death sentence for them all could also be meant for someone else entirely. But that does not mean they will show themselves in time... Major OC warning- none are romantically involved with anyone from canon.
1. Onboard the Plane

It'd been exactly one year since Naru and Lin had left for England. Now they were returning to Japan for who knows what reason. Their plane had just taken off. It would be at least a twelve to fifteen hour-long ride. As they were nearing the eleven-hour point, the plane suddenly jerked sideways and a thud came from the cockpit. Naru looked up from his binder. The pilot's voice came onto the announcer.

"Sorry about that, folks. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts, as we will be experiencing some turbulence." Naru sighed. He went right back to the binder. Lin glanced out the window. Dark black clouds caught his eye. The pilot's voice came back. "Actually, please put your table trays up and your seats back in their upright positions." Everyone did as told. Lightning flashed outside. The passengers onboard were whispering uneasily.

"Lin, what's going on?" Naru hissed.

"It looks as if the pilot is taking the plane into a lightning storm…"

"No…" Naru peered out the window. "That's no lightning storm." He unbuckled his seatbelt and called to the passengers. "Listen everyone!"

"Are we in danger?" Voices flew across the room.

"QUIET!" Lin ordered. The volume lowered to more whispering.

"Listen to me! We're about to head into a very powerful storm, perhaps a natural disaster."

"What are you talking about?" Another passenger screamed.

"Take brace positions, _now!_" With that statement made, he went back into his seat and put his head to his knees. Lin copied.

"They're nuts." Someone else muttered. Then lightning struck the plane.


	2. The Crash

"Isn't it great, Ayako?" Mai exclaimed as she brought a tray of tea out. Everyone was seated around the coffee table in the SPR building, waiting for Naru's return.

"Well, I can't say I'm thrilled to put up with Naru's insults all day, but sure." Aiyako replied.

"C'mon, don't be that negative just yet." Monk joked. Masako was staring out the window. Not a cloud in the sky. That's when a fire truck whizzed by. Its alarm was singing through the streets. The lights lit up the buildings like a Christmas tree. "That's the eleventh one that's passed us today!"

"There must be a huge fire somewhere." John replied.

"Hey, they should've landed by now, don't you think?" Yasu asked while checking the clock. It was almost noon. Their flight should've gotten into the airport an hour ago.

"Maybe they're delayed, they got stuck in traffic." Monk suggested.

"I can imagine that."

"Well, we could always check the news for any flight delays or something."

"Okay." Mai replied and moved to turn on the radio. However, a sudden lump in the pit of her stomach suggested otherwise. She hesitated.

"What's wrong, Mai? You forget how to turn on the radio already?" Yasu mocked.

"No, it's not that… Never mind." She turned the nob.

"_And now, the top headlines of Tokyo news, a large jet plane straight from London, England has crash-landed in a forest, miles away from the city, right after being struck by lightning. A fire is rampaging through the trees, endangering all life around it. Emergency services are on the way. As of now, we do not know if anyone survived._" The news continued to talk while everyone in the room stood there, shocked beyond belief. Tears began to form in the corner of Masako's eyes. Monk finally snapped out of it and ran out of the room.

"C'mon!" He yelled. Everyone followed him into his car. Yasu volunteered to stay behind in case anyone came. In the mean time, Monk sped away, with everyone else inside. Within the hour, they could see the smoke. The trucks had already got there, and they were pelting the woods with water. The SPR looked around, trying to spot anything. The police tried to hold them back, but Mai slipped through. She came to a massive crater in the earth, with the remains of the enormous jet, lit ablaze with the dancing flames. Fire spat from the windows, and the wings were completely severed.

Mai began to explode in tears as the firefighters blasted the windows with their hoses. She prayed everyone would be all right. But inside, she knew that there was a very slim chance that anyone survived. However, right in the corner of her eye, she saw something move. It was a black, lumpy figure that looked more animal than human. At first, she thought it was an overgrown black bear. But when she looked harder, she saw that the figure was a combination of two people, one supporting the other.

"Over there!" She called and pointed. "They're over there!" Immediately, firefighters slid down into the crater and ran after them.

* * *

><p>Naru's head was spinning, as well as the plane. The lights had been killed, and the air pressure was increasing rapidly. Suddenly, it all came to a crashing, burning stand still. Fire was everywhere. Then it exploded. Naru looked up to see Lin, laying over him, shielding him from the flames and other dangers. He quickly unbuckled both seatbelts and began to exit the plane. He managed to bust the emergency doors open. Naru had his arm over Lin's shoulder, with Lin guiding him out of the plane. Then it just happened to explode for a third time. This explosion sent the two of them, plus glass, metal, and debris flying everywhere.<p>

Lin threw himself protectively over Naru's head. He was aware that his own head was bleeding. Naru was barely conscious, and so was he. He could almost imagine small trickles of water being sprayed on him. He knew he had to keep moving. They weren't at a far enough distance from the crash.

"There! They're over there!" Lin knew that voice, but he couldn't remember whose it was at the moment. The pain in his legs grew even more, when he just lost consciousness… The last thing he saw were two aquamarine eyes glaring down at him.


	3. Meeting the Shiki

He woke up in a large, white room. Aiyako was staring straight at him. He jolted upright and winced at the pain. "What happened? Where's Naru?"

"Relax, he's in the room right down the hall." Then she put her hand on his forehead, making him lay down again. "You still need to rest." Lin suddenly looked at a spot behind Ayako. There, right in a corner was a green wolf. Its aquamarine eyes pierced the spiritualist through and through. One of his other shiki whistled. Lin's Five Shiki took the form of small, Chinese Dragons, their manes and scales the same color as their element.

"_Well, I sure hope you like her, Lin-dono_" It whispered. Lin gave it a questioning look. A different one answered this time.

"_She's very strong, powerful, and quite the devil._" Lin still didn't understand.

"_She's the newest addition to the family._" The third shiki gave the information to him like a slap in the face. "_And just like all of us, she has a name._"

"_Pine Forest Demon._" The wolf introduced herself.

"_Rokku._" Replied Lin's most recent shiki (before Pine). This one was Lin's Earth Shiki.

"_I am Long, pleased to make your acquaintance._" The second most recent added. He was Lin's Metal Shiki.

"_Yo! My name's Billy-Bob!_" The sloppiest of the five dragons exclaimed. He was Lin's Wood Shiki, and quite an embarrassment.

"_My name is Täke (pronounced Take)._" This spirit had an almost German accent. Lin probably caught a wandering German spirit or secretly visited Germany who knows when. She was Lin's Water Shiki.

"_And I am Shu, Lin-dono's first shiki._" The last one introduced itself. Shu was Lin's Fire Shiki. Forest Demon dipped her head respectively. "_And I am here to show you the ropes._"

"_Go for it._"

"_Lin-dono communicates mostly with telepathy._"

"_He hates it when people make him mad!_" Billy-Bob exclaimed. "_There was this one time when I got my hand stuck in an electrical socket~_"

"_What?_" Lin interrupted. It seemed as if he wasn't aware that ever happened.

"_Wait, I'm now a __**shiki**_**?" **Pine seemed to hate the idea of being trapped, which she now was.

"_Yup! You're going to love it here! Except for the fact that we get randomly summoned at the worst of times when Lin-dono is on some kind of uber-scary case._" Billy-Bob replied.

"_Please ignore him,_" Täk muttered. "_He has no idea what he's saying, that moron._"

"_Pathetic excuse for a demon, him…_" Shu added.

"_Where did you guys pick him up?_" Pine spat.

"_Uh… somewhere… I think we were in Texas once,_" Long muttered.

"_Lin-dono has never been to Texas, diphthong!_" Shu snarled.

"_Would you six shut up?_" Lin snapped.

"_Yes, Lin-dono,_" The five of Lin's shiki replied. Forest Demon just grunted. She sure didn't like the idea of being used for someone else's goals. She saw the plane crash and the survivors, and for some reason, was attracted and got way too close. That's probably when those five morons pounced her and took her captive. Oh, she definitely knew that getting even was in her future.


	4. A Night In The Life Of A Shepherd

A German shepherd started to prowl along the perimeters of the hospital. He was fully aware of his mission. He had waited ever-so-patiently for visiting hours to be up. When he was absolutely sure everyone had left, he stormed viciously around the outside walls of the building, sniffing, trying to pick up a scent. When he caught one that was particularly helpful, he ran towards the revolving doors. Of course, security spotted him right away. The dog growled and the guard raised his bat. He brought it crashing down on the spot right where the dog was standing, but it had jumped an impossible ten feet off the ground, well over the guard's head. There was a bloodcurdling scream, a flash of red, and then nothing.

Blood lapped at the shepherd's paws. He swiftly and gracefully licked the tangy, copper-like taste off of his nails. He continued tracking the scent. When he approached room 503, the scent became unbearably strong. If the shepherd could put a word to describe this scent, he would ultimately choose… _Mai_.

Of course, he had no idea what 'Mai' meant, only that it was extremely important he follow the scent. The scent was strongest in a chair in the very corner of the room. Another scent, perhaps generating the idea of _indigo_, radiated from the bed. He often used colors to describe scents. He turned the room upside down looking for any other evidence of scents, but he got none. He also noted that this was a particularly better scent than the scent of _Mai. _It would lead him closer to his goal. However, he knew he wasn't looking for anything _human_. He killed and ate human before. A piece of information; human does _not_ taste like chicken. He took one last note of these two scents- _Mai_ and _Indigo_- and ran out of the room.

A green truck was waiting in back for him. A male human, no taller than the one he had just slaughtered, came out. He was holding a stick with a loop around it. The Shepherd had heard about these things before; the humans called them catch poles- and they were used to trap his fellow kind for so long. They were often thrown into cages no bigger than two shepherd lengths wide, and left to die. Being 'adopted' as the humans call it is no better, in the Shepherd's opinion. Being 'adopted' simply meant your suffering as a caged beast was prolonged. He had often wondered how others of his kind had done it. This time, however, the police were also at the scene, probably because of the spilled blood. They even had police dogs. It was another Shepherd, a female, and an infamous bad-guy catcher.

"Why do you follow them?" The killer growled. The female did not respond. She stared him down with a death glare. He returned the glare. The human shouted something in human tongue, and the female attacked. Again, our shepherd jumped an amazing twelve feet off the ground, grabbed hold of the brick, and scaled the vertical wall all the way up to the roof. His claws easily sunk into the rock-hard stone- but he had the impossible gift of manipulating all things that came from the depths of the Earth's crust- metal and rock. He had dealt with humans before; none of them were ever too hard for him to escape from… until tonight. The humans had a strange ability- unheard of by dogkind. They could learn from past errors. A huge flying instrument, known as a helicopter, was hovering directly over the Shepherd. A blinding light seethed into his tan and black coat. An electric net was sent over him. It let loose a voltage of about a million. However, the Shepherd remained unharmed. Somehow, he was acting as an insulator- he did not conduct electricity, a tribute that does not characterize any animal heard of.

He easily shook off the net and dashed off. Even a beast as strong as himself knows when the odds are against him. And this was one of those times. Animal control was out there, the police were there, and so was the helicopter. The Shepherd made a hasty retreat, shoving _Mai_ and _Indigo_ all the way to the back of his head. He reached the edge of the hospital and jumped. He landed, creating a crater in the earth. He turned around to run, only to be caught in the clutches of a catchpole, made of wire. He could not manipulate wire. He bit furiously at it, but to no avail. The female pinned his hindquarters to the ground and locked him in a death grip. It seemed all over, but suddenly, a hellish miracle swept across the battlefield. A shadow, long and thick, flew through the air, annihilating all mortal beings…

* * *

><p>"Naru, are you sure you and Lin should be out of the hospital this fast?" Mai asked with a lump in her stomach. She was sitting in the backseat of the van. Naru was in the passenger seat and Lin was driving. Lin's five shiki were flying around his head, while that mysterious green wolf sat beside Mai. She couldn't see it.<p>

"We're fine, Mai. Quit worrying. Or did you not hear the doctor's report? He said _there was nothing serious with us_." Naru growled.

"Are you crazy? You were just in a plane crash two days ago, and now you're saying it was nothing serious?"

"We survived, didn't we?"

"But that still doesn't give you an excuse to ignore the doctor!"

"He didn't say anything regarding our leave. We paid them. We were fine. We had every right to leave." The van arrived at the SPR building. Naru let himself out. Mai quickly followed him. Lin parked the van and got out. Before locking the door, he kept it open, trying to coax the wolf out. She did not budge. Another driver, just turning the corner, suddenly veered out of the way of the open door and crashed into some other vehicle. The horn was still screaming as both cars, navy and white, were sent careening off into the other side of the road. A little blood could be seen on the windshield.

"What was that?" Naru and Mai barreled out of the SPR office to see the accident that had just occurred. Lin stood there speechless.

"Why are you standing there? Someone could've gotten killed!" Mai screamed. Lin hastily closed the door. He put his hand to his head. The green wolf walked right through the van. "Answer me!" Lin shot her a glare. "Don't give me the Naru!"

"Nothing." Lin muttered, taking longer strides to get away from the worrywart that was Mai Taniyama. Pine Forest Demon continued to pace right behind him. Suddenly, they all saw John and Takigawa bursting towards them. It looked like John was waving a newspaper at them.

"John, what is it?" Mai exclaimed.

"Did you see the news?" He gasped. He showed Mai without waiting for her to reply. He showed the front headlines.

_**Dangerous German Shepherd Wrecks Hospital!**_

_Be on high alert for anything suspicious!_

There was more after that, but the picture of the place was a shell shocker, and the description of the room that was vandalized was horrific. _Room 503 was the only room to get vandalized_.

"That's the room Naru was in!" Takigawa added. That's when Ayako dashed towards them.

"Did John tell you?" She panted. Masako was trailing close behind her. A taxicab stopped in front of them and Yasu got out.

"Did you see it?" He shouted.

"Why would a dog attack your room?" Mai yelled at Naru.

"That's not the worst of it," John stopped her.

"Yeah, one of the animal control officers was alive when help arrived. He claimed that a thick, black shadow in the form of a large whip came out of nowhere and swept over everyone. He also said that the dog escaped without a scratch. The police dog Bess was dead as well, but not the runaway. He died shortly after." Takigawa informed.

"What really interests me is that tail." Masako slid in.

"Do you think we should take this inside? People are starting to stare…" Ayako muttered.

"Don't worry, Yasu can handle them! Can't you?" Takigawa joked while pushing the school kid forward, only to have him grip the poor monk around the waist.

"I'll do whatever my love Takigawa requests!"

"Ahem." Everyone fell silent. Mai looked over to see Naru tapping his foot and fingers. "Lets go inside. We can discuss the matter further once we're in private. Oh, and Mai, tea."

"Yes sir!" Mai scrambled inside first and grabbed the kettle.

Lin took off to his office. He had a lot of work to be done and those sick days in the hospital surely didn't work well with his schedule. Pine Forest Demon followed him inside. She was the only one of his shiki that couldn't fly.

"_Come on, Pine! Don't be such a stick in the mud!_" Billy-Bob yelled.

"_What else do you dishrags do around here?_" Pine muttered.

"_Oh, we play mini golf, we go swimming, we go AWOL when Lin isn't looking, oh, and my personal favorite game is 'ditch the Lin'._"

"_How do you play?_"

"_Whenever Lin tries to tune us out, I always just fly away and annoy some other unfortunate soul._"

"_Oh? Show me._"

"_We have to wait 'til~_"

"_Till I tune you out?_" All of the Shiki turned to Lin. "_You do know I can hear every word you're saying. Billy, is that true? Do you really AWOL me when I'm not looking?_"

"_Um…_"

"_Right... Long, do me a favor and keep an eye on him._"

"_Yes, Lin-dono._" Long replied while intertwining himself with Billy-Bob's body. Billy-Bob started to sulk. Forest Demon was getting bored. Suddenly, she picked up a faint scent of…


	5. A New Case?

Mai's tea was ready. She poured two cups, one for her jerk of a boss that was Naru and one for Lin. She placed Naru's cup on his desk. She waited. Naru glared up at her. "Can I help you?"

"Don't I get a thank you?"

"I don't pay you to be thanked."

"And what about that car cash in the road? We completely bailed from it!"

"Takigawa has notified the police and is outside right now, waiting for them." Then the doorbell rang. Mai ran to get it.

"Shibuya Psychic Research!" She exclaimed. There, in the doorway, was a woman with purple hair down to her last rib, wearing a lilac turtleneck and a royal purple skirt. She also had knee-high socks and black tennis shoes. She looked approximately seventeen years of age. In the background, they could all see two tow trucks taking away the two cars. Takigawa was filing a report with the police. He came in right behind the girl.

"Hello, I am Fuji, Kit. If I may propose a case?"

* * *

><p>"What has been happening lately?" Naru asked. They were all sitting around the sofa, discussing the events. Lin was recording the events on his laptop, as usual. The green wolf was sitting next to him as this happened, paying close attention to everything.<p>

"There was an accident concerning demons. A nine-tailed fox has gotten loose and is running amuck all throughout Tokyo. I last saw it in the sewers by 34th street."

"Is there any one particular location the demon tends to show up at?"

"10, 4… the big shopping mall smack center of the city, and it also showed up at the Nuclear power plant."

"So we're going to do an exorcism in the mall?" Takigawa spat.

"The attacks only happen at night…" Kit replied.

"But how do _you_ know all of this?" Ayako growled.

"I'm a night security guard there. I have been for a while. I'm the only one who's ever had the courage to speak up about it."

"Have you told anyone else you've seen a Ninetails?" Naru asked. Kit gave a nervous glance around.

"No, no…"

"So, Naru! This case seems mighty interesting. What do you think?" Takigawa asked.

"We're not taking it." He closed his book. Everyone looked up.

"Why not, Naru?" Mai protested.

"It's too dangerous."

"Come on!"

"Remember, I said I cannot hunt monsters."

"But you've taken on a God before, haven't you?"

"I did that to get even."

"And if you use your PK, you'll be strong enough to beat it!" As the two of them argued, Pine Forest Demon suddenly rubbed up against Lin's leg. He looked down at her. She motioned with her nose towards Kit.

"_You want to take the case_?" She nodded. "_Why_?" The wolf gave no explanation as she stalked over to Kit's leg. She sat down, perfectly still.

"Please take the case," Kit pleaded. "That demon is a danger to society and it's better if we have the best of the best take him on."

"Whining alone won't change my mind. It's final. We're not taking the case." It was a clear dismissal of Kit. She turned around and walked out of the room. Mai could've sworn she saw Kit's mouth move as she muttered something under her breath. Mai turned back to Naru, her own eyes pleading. Naru glared right back at her.

"Jerk!" She screamed.

"Why? The one time we have a relatively dangerous case and I don't take it, you yell at me."

"She needed our help!"

"I have seen no evidence of paranormal activity in the city. There is no reason to take the case. For all we know, this could be nothing more than a prank. Case closed." Naru got up and stalked into his cave of an office. "Mai, tea."

"You can tell time by your tea orders!" Mai screamed, still flustered.

"Then you should already have it prepared, unless you've forgotten how to tell time already."

"Stupid narcissist…" She stalked off to the kitchen to make his tea. "Lin, would you like some?"

"No, thank you." He too went back to his office.

* * *

><p>They worked late into the night. Mai had left at approximately nine. Lin had taken a short break to drive her home. He returned to the office shortly after. Naru was still inside his hole, not even realizing Lin had left and returned without him knowing. He heard a thunk of metal from outside. He turned around to see that the sewer plate had been shaken. <em>A car ran over it,<em> he thought. His last cup of Mai's tea for the day was almost empty. When it was all gone, that was his timer to stop working. He took his last sip and returned the cup to the sink. Then he grabbed his coat and left. Little did he know, there was something waiting outside for him…

_Indigo… _The Shepherd was close… he knew it. But, an unidentified object got there first, stealing his prey. He had to run before he too was attacked. The last thing he heard was the creak of metal and a crunch of glass.

Lin was locked inside his own hole when he heard the crash of something extremely heavy. A light pole came careening through his window and barely missed his head. He looked outside to see that the lighting pole had been bent over. It couldn't support its own weight and crashed. He tried to see past the 'present' he had been given and saw Naru, back against the wall, staring face to face with an orange demon fox. It had only five tails.

"Naru!" Lin summoned Rokku. The shiki launched at the demon. The five-tailed fox dodged and returned to the sewer. "Was that the demon?"

"It didn't have nine tails…" Naru gasped.

* * *

><p>The next day, everyone came back to see the light pole that had torn its way through Lin's office. The end of the lighting pole was even sticking out of the wall into the meeting room.<p>

"What happened?" Mai screamed.

"We were attacked." Naru replied calmly while rubbing his wrist.

"Is your wrist okay?"

"I'm fine. Stop worrying."

"Attacked by what?" Ayako demanded. The doorbell rang. In came Kit.

"Fuji-san!" Mai exclaimed.

"Tell me exactly what the fox looks like."

"Hello, Shibuya-san. I returned to tell you that the nine tailed fox struck again, this time at the Red Cross hospital."

"What does the fox look like?" Naru spat.

"It's orange, about seven feet tall, and it has long fingers."

"We were attacked by a demon that fits that description~"

"Naru!" Mai yelled, concern, once again, growing in her throat. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You don't need to know every moment that happens in my life, Mai. The creature that attacked us only had five tails."

"Depending on how strong a nine-tailed fox is, it can hide its tails in the shadows, other times, it can only hide a few, and unusually, it can't hide any of them."

"Why do you know so much about nine-tailed foxes?" Yasu asked while shifting his glasses.

"I do my research," Kit replied timidly. "I have always taken a liking to nine-tailed foxes." There was a pause of silence. "What of the case?"

"I suppose it's worth looking into."

"Thank you, Shibuya-san." With that, she left, her heart content.

"Hm." He humphed. Pine looked at Lin and the other five Shiki swirling around his head. Shu had rested on Lin's shoulders. The rest of them had dispersed, waiting for something more to happen. Lin was still standing in the middle of the room, observing his new 'friend'. The onmyoji could see fire burning in those aquamarine eyes, and threateningly, something more- bloodlust. Pine bared her teeth as she prepared for battle.

"_When do we fight_?" She growled.

"_When Lin-dono tells you to._" Long replied.

"_He sent Rokku out there last night and not me. I could've easily wiped the floor with that fox-face!_"

"_Don't be so arrogant._" Shu scolded. "_Lin-dono chooses who to send out depending on the circumstances. Remember, we possess the five primary elements of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. Our elements support each other._"

"_I guess Metal was really what Lin-dono needed at the time,_" Täke said.

"_Will I get to tear throats out?_" Pine sheepishly questioned.

"_Uh…_" The five shiki exchanged glances. "_That's not really how we do things. Lin-dono has never had us slay a demon in such a matter before._"

"_Humph…_" Once again, the building was quiet, except for the occasional sound of a kettle brewing. She accompanied Lin to Naru's office as they discussed what they'd be doing and how.

"We will arrive, but we won't stay." Naru concluded. "I don't want to risk our safety hunting this demon, and frankly, I'd prefer to avoid the press again."

"Will you be requesting the assistance of Yasuhara-san again?" Lin asked. Billy-Bob leaned over to Pine.

"_One time, Oliver had used Osamu Yasuhara as his doppelganger. It was hilarious! I personally saw him drive away a jerk of a man by claiming he was two hundred years old! We all know that everyone loves Yasu._"

"That's always an option." Naru replied. "It's settled. We leave tomorrow. Tell Mai to make me tea." Lin nodded and walked out. Pine followed. She eyed Naru with a murderous glare. However, she knew that nobody except Lin could see her. They returned to the office, right after Lin relayed the tea order to Mai and once again, declined from the offer himself. He sat on the sofa in the meeting room, (since his office had a lamppost through it). Pine lied down on her belly and set her chin to her paws. The soft clicking of typing sent the wolf into a light sleep. She remembered the scent- the scent from yesterday…


	6. That dirty dirty little liar

Thor silently cursed his luck. He was about to strike and accomplish his goal, but the two cars zoomed out of the SPR parking area before he had his chance. But there was a chance that what he wanted was still in the building; only problem was, he didn't have the key. But no worries; he would find his own way in.

* * *

><p>"We won't be staying for long," Naru said. Everyone stared. "I find it unreasonable to keep us in constant danger."<p>

"So, did I just hear Naru call himself _chicken_?" Mai squawked.

"No, Mai. I am simply stating that~" Before Naru could finish his statement, more people started to show up. Kit was in the lead. There was a lady with orange hair, as short as Mai's, wearing a black blazer, short pencil skirt, and a white top. Behind her were five other people. Two of them were identical twins, no older than nine. Their hair was short and yellow. One was wearing a yellow top and shorts, while the other wore a blue top. The man behind her had forest green hair and clothes. Lastly, a man with yellow hair and blue eyes stood behind another with brown hair and a blue suit.

Standing directly opposite of that group was another. The woman in front had brown hair and a brown suit. There was a man in a tux and top hat about six feet tall, a woman in a tan pencil skirt and blazer with light brown hair, a lady with green hair cut very short, and finally, a woman with long purple hair.

"Who are these people?" Naru demanded.

"Shibuya Psychic Research, please meet the T-PO and the K-PO." Kit exclaimed (The T-PO and the K-PO are characters from another one of my fanfics 'Everyone Knows Psychics Don't Exist Right? So please read that to get more detailed information on them). "They're other psychics, but their powers are more elemental."

"You said you hadn't contacted anyone else about this."

"Oops, I lied…" Kit started to escort them into the store. "The demon usually attacks at night, in store rooms. There is no footage of him, since it disables the cameras…"

"So how are we supposed to spot it?" The woman in the brown suit muttered.

"Easy, Kura." The woman with orange hair soothed.

"Shut up, Taik, I don't need your soothing!"

"Fine, be that way." The two crossed their arms and turned away.

"They seem angry…" Mai whispered to Naru who wasn't even listening.

"They're worse than Ayako and Takigawa!" Yasu pointed out. He suddenly was on the floor, gripping his head in pain. Everyone turned around to face Ayako, holding her fist at eye level. The SPR (excluding Naru and Lin) sweat dropped. Mai saw Naru whisper something to Lin.

"I don't want to get involved with them; let's go."

"But we can't go yet, Naru!" Mai yelled, completely giving their secret away. The T-PO and the K-PO stopped arguing and fiercely turned to the SPR.

"Well done, Mai." Naru snarled.

"You were planning on _leaving?_" Kit asked.

"Fuji-san, don't take this the wrong way. I am not interested in risking the lives of my coworkers to stop a demon that I have never sensed."

"You were attacked last night; you yourself told me!" Naru just turned his head away. Kit found it pointless to argue any further. "Fine, leave this beast to attack society and possibly wipe Humanity off the face of the earth. See if I care."

"Hi, my name's Ni! And this is my twin Nao!" The two twins exclaimed. The one with the yellow shirt vigorously shook Mai's hand.

"Hello Ni, hello Nao." Mai returned the greeting. Suddenly, Ni disappeared. "What just happened?"

"That's Ni and Nao, two of my psychics of the T-PO," Taik began to explain. "Ni randomly teleports whenever and Nao can imitate the sounds of anything he hears once. I can see either the cause of death, time of death, or location of death of a deceased person, as long as I have a part of the body. A full corpse is recommended."

"I am ZK," The man with the green hair replied.

"My boyfriend can turn into any animal of the Chinese Zodiac." Taik added.

"For the millionth time, we are _not_ in a relationship!"

"Sounds like you and Naru to me," Monk told Mai, who blushed madly. The man with yellow hair and blue eyes waved.

"I'm Iwa, and I have the power of telekinesis, mainly things made of stone." He shyly blushed.

"Aw, Iwa's a big softie!" Ni whined cutely.

"Am not!" Iwa snapped.

"Are to."

"I am Kura, leader of the K-PO. My coworkers are Aid," She pointed to the tall man in the mask, "SS," the woman in the pencil skirt, "Ma," the woman with long purple hair, "and KJ," the girl with the very short hair.

"Aren't you going to tell them what your powers are?" Taik encouraged.

"I see no reason to."

"Spoilsport…"

"Please, can we start the investigation?" Kit interrupted. Naru sighed. This was going to be a long case.


	7. These Are The Psychics

Thor silently cursed his luck. He was about to strike and accomplish his goal, but the two cars zoomed out of the SPR parking area before he had his chance. But there was a chance that what he wanted was still in the building; only problem was, he didn't have the key. But no worries; he would find his own way in.

* * *

><p>"We won't be staying for long," Naru said. Everyone stared. "I find it unreasonable to keep us in constant danger."<p>

"So, did I just hear Naru call himself _chicken_?" Mai squawked.

"No, Mai. I am simply stating that~" Before Naru could finish his statement, more people started to show up. Kit was in the lead.

There was a lady with orange hair, as short as Mai's, wearing a black blazer, short pencil skirt, and a white top. She looked about twenty.

Behind her were five other people. Two of them looked like identical twins, no older than nine. Their hair was short and yellow. One was wearing a yellow top with a blue stripe across the shoulders and shorts, while the other wore the same thing, except for a blue top with a yellow stripe.

The man directly behind her had silvery white hair and a forest green suit. The addition of soft pink/lilac eyes immediately gave away that he was an albino.

There were two more people in that one group. One of them had soft yellow hair with striking blue eyes, but he looked quite shy. He was wearing a white t-shirt and kaki shorts, with a red sweater tied around his waist.

The other had brown hair and wore a blue suit, along with a nice, sharp-looking blue hat.

Standing directly opposite of that group was another. The woman in front had brown hair tied back into a loose ponytail and a black suit. She wore a stern look on her face that obviously meant she wasn't willing to mess around.

There was a man in a tux and top hat about six feet tall. He wore this strange white mask that covered his eyes. It made him look extremely eerie and suspicious. He also didn't look like he was the kind for messing around.

A woman in a tan pencil skirt and blazer with light brown hair stood behind the tall man in the tux. Her hair had a gentle curl to it, but her face was plain and emotionless. However, the plainness seemed sinister.

A lady with green hair cut very short, wearing a white t-shirt and shorts with a red sweater tied around her waist was standing beside the woman with the black suit and stern look.

The last member wore a cream colored shirt and a short lilac skirt. Her hair was a light purple color, tied into three buns, two on the sides and one on the top of her head. The tone of her skin suggested Latino.

"Who are these people?" Naru demanded.

"Shibuya Psychic Research, please meet the T-PO and the K-PO." Kit exclaimed. "They're other psychics, but their powers are more elemental."

"You said you hadn't contacted anyone else about this."

"Oops, I lied…" Kit nonchalantly started to escort them into the store. "The demon usually attacks at night, in store rooms. There is no footage of him, since it disables the cameras…"

"So how are we supposed to spot it?" The woman in the brown suit muttered.

"Easy, Kura." The woman with orange hair soothed.

"Shut up, Taik, I don't need your soothing!"

"Fine, be that way." The two crossed their arms and turned away.

"They seem angry…" Mai whispered to Naru who wasn't even listening.

"They're worse than Ayako and Takigawa!" Yasu pointed out. He suddenly was on the floor, gripping his head in pain. Everyone turned around to face Ayako, holding her fist at eye level. The SPR (excluding Naru and Lin) sweat dropped. Mai saw Naru whisper something to Lin.

"I don't want to get involved with them; let's go."

"But we can't go yet, Naru!" Mai yelled, completely giving their secret away. The T-PO and the K-PO stopped arguing and fiercely turned to the SPR.

"Well done, Mai." Naru snarled.

"You were planning on _leaving?_" Kit asked.

"Fuji-san, don't take this the wrong way. I am not interested in risking the lives of my coworkers to stop a demon that I have never sensed."

"You were attacked last night; you yourself told me!" Naru just turned his head away. Kit found it pointless to argue any further. "Fine, leave this beast to attack society and possibly wipe Humanity off the face of the earth. See if I care."

"Hi, my name's Ni! And this is my twin Nao!" The two twins exclaimed. The one with the yellow shirt vigorously shook Mai's hand.

"Hello Ni, hello Nao." Mai returned the greeting. Suddenly, Ni disappeared. "What just happened?"

"That's Ni and Nao, two of my psychics of the T-PO," Taik began to explain. "Ni randomly teleports whenever and Nao can imitate the sounds of anything he hears once. I can see either the cause of death, time of death, or location of death of a deceased person, as long as I have a part of the body. A full corpse is recommended."

"I am ZK," The albino interrupted.

"My boyfriend can turn into any animal of the Chinese Zodiac." Taik added.

"For the millionth time, we are _not_ in a relationship!"

"Sounds like you and Naru to me," Monk told Mai, who blushed madly. The man with yellow hair and blue eyes waved.

"I'm Iwa, and I have the power of telekinesis, mainly things made of stone." He shyly blushed.

"Aw, Iwa's a big softie!" Ni whined cutely.

"Am not!" Iwa snapped.

"Are to."

"I am Kura, leader of the K-PO. My coworkers are Aid," She pointed to the tall man in the mask, "SS," the woman in the pencil skirt with the sinister and emotionless look, "Ma," the woman with long purple hair, "and KJ," the girl with the very short green hair.

"Aren't you going to tell them what your powers are?" Taik encouraged.

"I see no reason to."

"Spoilsport…"

"Please, can we start the investigation?" Kit interrupted. Naru sighed. This was going to be a long case.


	8. Multiple Conflicts

Thor had successfully made it inside the SPR building. He had broken a window by shoving a rock through it. He gave a curious glance at the lamppost lying through one of the offices, but he didn't linger on that. He had a mission to accomplish. The scent of _Indigo_ and _Mai_ were nauseatingly strong. _Indigo_ was the strongest inside the office without the lamppost. A mix of scents overwhelmed his nose in the living room-like area. The lamppost stunk of sewage and exhaust fumes. However, the office inside had a whole new scent… the scent of _black_. Now, with those three scents in his mind, he had an even stronger lead, since they all carpooled into the same vehicle not seven hours ago. All he had to do was trace it to the source. Just keep on tracing. But then again, there was that orange five-tailed demon to be worried about… but what the hell, he'd go whether there was a demon there or not. His mission took priority, and nothing was going to stand in his way.

* * *

><p>"Naru, should we leave now?" Lin asked. The two of them were at base alone.<p>

"Kit lied to us. She brought others, and I frankly do not wish to interact with them." Naru growled. "We'll leave tonight." Lin nodded.

"But what until then?"

"We continue." Naru went back to whatever he was doing, and Lin returned to the monitors. He perked up when a large foxlike shadow dashed past a camera. It looked like it had multiple tails.

"Naru!" Naru joined him at the monitors. Lin rewound the footage to show Naru the shadow. There was a huge thud from right outside base. Naru threw the door open with Lin hot on his trail. There, right on the fence was the five-tailed Ninetails, battling it out with Ken and ZK.

Ken was firing pink spheres of his aura and ZK had transformed into the Komodo dragon. He had the Ninetails in a death grip, while Ken continued to fire. The Ninetails expanded its tails, and sure enough, there were only five. Those five tails crashed into the ground, sending the two psychics flying. Then the beast noticed Naru and Lin watching. It roared at them and raised a fist. Lin whistled and summoned Rokku. Rokku careened into the beast, but a single tail just sent him flying. Billy-Bob and Shu went next. Two more tails finished them too.

"_What's going on?_" Shu growled.

"_That's an Elemental Ninetails!_" Pine shouted.

"_What?_"

"_Long!_" Lin whistled. Long, the Metal Shiki, was stopped by Ninetails' fire tail. Ninetails jumped over Täke, attempting to pounce the onmyoji. Lin ducked as Ninetails crashed into the base, shattering the barrier with one hit. ZK attempted to shoot poison at it in snake form, but Ninetails just shook it off. A white light suddenly formed behind them. "Naru!"

Naru was preparing his PK for an all out blast. Ninetails seemed to sense the intense power level and shrunk back. Naru fired. Ninetails evaded, but was caught in the explosion that the PK created. It jumped out the window and scurried off elsewhere. Kit came running in at the last minute.

"Ninetails has moved! We have to follow it!" She commanded. Ken and ZK nodded as she led them off. She stopped when she saw that Lin and Naru weren't following her. "Come on!" Naru narrowed his eyes. "We have to go!" She attempted to push him from behind, but Lin slapped her hand away. She glared, and he returned the glare. "Fine, stay here for all I care."

When she was long gone, Lin began his lecture. "You know you can't use your powers safely!" Naru just turned away and attempted to tune out. "Oliver, listen to me!" The shouting seemed to attract the attention of a passing by Mai Taniyama and her friend Monk.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Don't," Naru cautioned. But Lin did anyway.

"He used his PK."

"What? Naru! You can't do that!" Mai yelled. Naru sighed impatiently. Everyone seemed to enjoy babying him, and it got old real fast. Well… perhaps their worry did have some rational reason, seeing as how he just blacked out. "Naru!" Mai screamed. Lin checked for a pulse and breath. "I'll call an ambulance!" The brunette dashed off to make the call. Lin tried to perform CPR.

"_Why didn't he use me AGAIN?_" Pine snarled.

"_Pine, shut up!"_ Shu scolded. "_This isn't all about fighting!_"

"_If I have to stick around with you babies any longer, I'll explode!_"

"_We're not babies, we're Lin-dono's shikigami and you have no right to insult us!_" Rokku snapped.

"_And you have no right to keep me captive here!_"

"_We captured you fair and square!_"

"_And if I were a real wolf, would you have done so? It's the same as a poacher and a leopard!_"

"_Not true!_" Täke roared. "_Lin-dono is our master and we will remain faithful to him! You on the other hand, it's about time you faced punishment!_" She whipped her tail at Pine. The Demon Wolf jumped back, snarling. She took a fighting stance as four of the other shiki prepared to attack. Billy-Bob was crouching under the rug, trying to take shelter from the battle. Pine roared and summoned vines from the ground, covered in thorns. However, they were unstable and quickly exploded into dust.

"_What the hell was that?_" She cursed. The four dragons coiled around her, bringing her down. "_Get off me!_"

"_You talk big, but you can't even create a solid elemental attack!_" Rokku taunted. Pine snapped at his head. She caught his horn in her jaw and quickly ripped him from her fur. She grabbed Rokku by the tail and bashed him into the ground.

"_Is __**this**__ solid enough for you?_" She retorted as she continued to fling him around the room.

"_All of you STOP RIGHT NOW!_" The five loyal to Lin turned to their master, while Pine just continued to snarl. Lin turned away; his shiki were the least of his worries. Naru was unconscious and not breathing. His pulse was faint, if not gone. The ambulance showed up. _What took them so long?_ It was really only a couple of minutes, but that felt like hours for Lin. He jumped into the ambulance when they loaded Kazuya onto it. Nobody else had the time to even ask what had happened. Mai would have to fill them in later. The psychics were there too. Kit was also present.

When the commotion had died down, most returned to their bases. However, Ma of the K-PO stayed behind. She was there to watch a German shepherd stalk by, sniffing. It was obviously tracking something. Then Ma started to glow. Her shape shifted to that of a ten-foot-tall werewolf. She took her claw and shoved it through the window, startling the dog. She jumped in front of it. "What are you looking for?" She asked.

"_Indigo, Black, _and _Mai._ Any other questions before I rip you to shreds?" The dog growled back.

"Don't be so cocky."

"I can be cocky whenever I want to." Ma grabbed him by the throat.

"Don't start fights you can't win!"

"Take your own advice, idiot!" Thor kicked up with his hind legs, sending the werewolf flying. He calculated where she would land. Then he sent a pillar of stone up to meet her. He spat, and continued to track _Indigo, Black, _and_ Mai._ However, the scents blended about here… right in front of the door. There were tire scratches in the tar- recent ones. The door had just been opened, and two of the three scents disappeared with the scratches. One however, had been standing in the doorway for some time. Upon further investigation, the scent had never left the building. That was probably his best shot, since the other two would be harder to track down. But the werewolf wasn't out yet. She grabbed him by the tail from behind and launched a sneak attack. Thor was thrown into the air. However, he demonstrated the reflexes of a cat by righting himself and landing on his paws. He crashed into the ground, sending a shockwave of earth out. Ma jumped up, but Thor crushed a rock and used the fragments like a machine gun.

* * *

><p>Mai was inside the building, worrying herself silly about Naru. She had just finished filling in everyone else. Masako was shivering. She was staring at the rug. Something was there. She focused her vision and found a small green dragon.<p>

"What did you find?" Monk asked.

"One of Lin's Shiki." She replied. She moved her hand to the rug, where Billy-Bob was hiding. "Everything's okay, come out." She watched as the cute little dragon abruptly shook its tiny head.

"I can't see anything," Yasu scoffed.

"Because you're not Masako." Ayako muttered while giving him a light hit to the back of the head. Suddenly, Masako gasped as Billy-Bob made a swift move from her hand, further under the rug. That's when the window exploded in shards of rock and debris, being fired like a gun. There was a bang and the lights went out.


	9. Suspicions arising

That gunshot-like attack subsided quickly. Ayako had thrown herself over Mai protectively. Yasu and John were hiding behind a bookshelf in a corner. Masako was crouching on the ground next to Billy-Bob. And Monk was racing towards the window to see what just happened. What he saw shocked him. There was a humanoid wolf-creature lying face down on the ground, with blood leaking out of many spots in its body. There was a crater in the earth, and all of the windows on this side of the store had been shattered. Nothing else was outside.

Ayako was still covering Mai when Mai was overcome with a dream. A tall, black figure stood beside her in a pit of shadows. A green dog was sitting closely beside the figure. Suddenly, it snapped and turned on its master. The black dog attacked the black figure, both dogs watching as it melted into the ground. The green dog joined the black one. They turned towards Mai. Gene stood in between her and the dogs. "Mai." He spoke. His voice echoed through the abyss.

"Gene? What's going on?"

"Get up and run. You can run, but you can't hide. So run." The black dog pounced Gene, and to Mai's horror, it bit down on his throat. Blood sprayed across the darkness of this dream world. Both dogs growled at her. She got up and was about to turn tail when the black one pounced her.

"Mai!" Ayako's worried call pulled Mai back into the world of reality. "Mai!"

"Ayako?"

"Oh thank goodness. We thought you had died or something." Mai looked around. She was lying on a red sofa. But they weren't in their base. She looked up to see Taik. Her usually bubbly face was tainted with worry. She seemed to relax when Mai came to.

"Did you dream?" Monk inquired. Mai nodded. "What did you see?"

"A black dog came… and killed Gene." Monk and Ayako exchanged glances. Everyone knew that she visited Gene in dreams, even Naru. "It also killed a black figure, taller than Gene, with a green dog behind it. Gene told me to run, 'run, but you can't hide, so run'. So I ran, but they caught me…"

"Is Gene gone?" Masako asked. Gene's presence is one of the few spirits Masako can't sense.

"I don't know…" That's when Kit showed up.

"Has something happened?" Mai explained her dream to Kit. She suddenly put on a poker face. Mai immediately became on edge, but nobody else seemed to notice.

"Do you know what it means?" Ayako asked. Kit shook her head, careful not to loose her poker face. Mai signaled to Ayako. She turned to her.

"I need to use the bathroom; could you help me?"

"Uh… sure…?" That was more of a question than a response. Ayako led her to the restroom. Once they were in, she asked, "What do you need help with?"

"No, I need to tell you something away from them." Ayako nodded for her to continue. "They're keeping something from us, I know it. We should be on our guard. They may be listening in on us right now." And just at that moment, none other than ZK, in the form of the dog, had his ear pressed up against the wood of the door. When he sensed their footsteps approaching, he backed off and changed back to his human form.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Naru had just woken from the disaster of about seven hours ago. He was still very drowsy and his vision was still clouded. Lin was sitting by him, doing absolutely nothing but sit and stare at the ground. He hadn't even noticed that one of his Shiki was gone. He turned slightly when he sensed Naru stir.<p>

"You're awake," he noted.

"I noticed." Naru grumbled. He forced himself to sit up. Lin rushed to his side and tried to guide him back down. Naru glared.

"You still need rest."

"I'm not a baby, Lin."

"But I'm your guardian." They started to argue back and forth while Pine just sulked in a corner. Rokku muttered something under his breath while scratching an itch behind his ears. Shu just stared at Pine, watching her every move. Pine scratched her own ears with her hind paw. She noticed the Shiki watching her. Then the bickering caught her attention.

"_You see how they fight? They're the babies…_" She muttered while dropping onto her belly. She crossed her front paws and put her chin down. She attempted to sleep.

"_All she does is sleep and hurl insults at us. I hardly see how this was productive, Shu._" Täke pointed out.

"_She was a powerful Demon and we need her. To be more precise, we need to be like Lin-dono and Davis-sama._" Shu replied calmly.

"_Remind me why, again._"

"_Someone had to have driven us into that lightning storm._"

"_So you're suggesting that Pine knows how to fly a plane? Look at that fur ball!_" They paused to squeeze in a glance at the sleeping wolf. "_She has no opposable thumbs!_"

"_Well who else would've driven us into that storm? Any seasoned pilot would know to avoid those storms at all costs. Remember, we all got that feeling when the plane approached Japan._" Long argued.

"_Opposable thumbs!_" Täke wiggled her thumbs. Long groaned in annoyance.

"_Don't let looks fool you._" Rokku snapped. He was still licking the wounds from his bashing not hours ago. You know that old saying 'my bark is worse than my bite'? Well in Pine's case, that's far from the truth. But then again, all Demons tend to have a lying streak…

"_Wait, where's Billy-Bob?_" Shu exclaimed.

"_Ah, who cares about that idiot?_" Täke grumbled.

"_Good point…_"

* * *

><p>When Mai and Ayako returned from the restroom, ZK and Taik had already left their base. Mai found that awfully suspicious. Ayako shared the same feeling. Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal…<p>

* * *

><p>The door burst open to reveal nothing but merchandise of stores and clothing. The perfume stunk horribly and stung Thor's delicate nose. Thanks to all of that sniffing and mix of scents, his sniffer had become all worn out. He was very exhausted and needed to rest pronto. He had lost the scent of <em>Mai<em> and now required a new lead. This was getting old way fast. He was completely exasperated by this mission and the toll that it took, but he wasn't about to give up. All he had to do was rest… That's it… he needed to rest a minute. He, against his better judgment, lay down on his belly, sticking his paws out in front of him. His eyes were heavy paperweights and kept sagging. However, falling asleep here could prove detrimental to the mission. Getting caught definitely didn't have room on the agenda. He needed to find what he was looking for and free it. He needed to free _her!_ She was trapped, lost, and only he could help. Well, there was another who could be of assistance, but that was a last resort. That last resort is very powerful, and could destroy the country if the situation was misunderstood, or something got in the way… like those pesky Psychic Organizations for instance. The more Thor thought about it, the more the fog lifted in his German shepherd brain. Both the T-PO and the K-PO had to go.


	10. The necklace dilema

The door opened to reveal a box. It was small, very small. Mai took it in her hand. Ayako jumped when she started to open it. She grabbed Mai's hand. "It could be booby trapped!"

"There's a note," Mai mumbled while looking at the bottom. The note said _I hope you like it._ She opened the box to find a necklace, with a butterfly pendant on it. The chain was gold.

"My god…" Ayako whispered.

"But who…?" Mai looked around. There wasn't a pen in the room she could test it on, but she did see a card sitting on the desk. It was probably Taik's, but she went up to it anyway. All of the psychics had signed their names. Written on the inside of the card was, _I hope you get better soon, Vincent. We aren't the same without you._ And then came the signatures. "Who's Vincent?" Mai asked innocently. Ayako just shrugged.

"Why are you looking at this? It's none of our business."

"Well, the handwriting doesn't match, so I can immediately eliminate all of the Psychic Organizations. So this isn't from them."

"Clever trick, Mai."

"I have my moments."

"But if they didn't write this… then who did? Was it one of us?"

"Probably someone who knew where we were…"

"But there's no name written on it."

"There's no indication of who it's for, either."

"You should probably put it down."

"But it _could_ be for me,"

"But maybe it's not. Maybe one of the others is expecting a present, or they had it to give to one of their relatives, or this Vincent guy. But the letter doesn't lean towards the possibility that it's a present for someone. It looks more like an anonymous gift."

"Oh, there's a psychic! I could ask him!" Mai ran out of the room and up to the very tall man in the tuxedo, mask, and top hat. "Excuse me," he turned to her. "I was wondering if you know what this is, who could've given it, or who it's for." She showed him the necklace. He shook his head. "Oh… thanks anyway."

"You shouldn't take things if you don't know who they're for or where they're from." He advised. Mai's expression saddened. He turned around and walked off.

"You know, he looks like a magician." John commented while walking past him. The man paid him no mind and turned the corner.

"Hey John, do you have any idea who this is from or who it's for?" Mai held up the necklace and the note.

"If I'm not mistaken, that looks like Hara-san's handwriting."

"Then wouldn't it be yours?" Ayako teased.

"Mine?" John turned a lovely shade of red.

"I knew it! Something _is_ going on between you two!" John quickly took another look at the writing.

"It's not a perfect match, but it's close. It may be someone else's! Who knows, we've never seen Shibuya-san's or Lin-san's before!"

"Now that I think about it, it does look like Masako's handwriting." Ayako muttered.

"Hey John, where are you going?" Mai asked.

"To base," He replied.

"Base is that way." She pointed in the opposite direction.

"Yes, but after the attack, Takigawa deemed the old base too dangerous."

"We're sharing bases with the T-PO and K-PO." Ayako explained. "Girls are here in the T-PO base, while boys are down the hall, in the K-PO's base." Mai sighed, thankful that the girls weren't with the K-PO. Frankly, they gave her an uneasy feeling.

"Is Naru going to be okay?" The three turned to see Masako on the phone, probably with Lin. There was a pause. "That's great news. Thank you, Lin-san." She hung up.

"Hara-san?" John spoke up.

"Brown-san…?" Masako began to blush at the fact that he even talked to her.

"Is this from you? And if not, who's it for, and where'd it come from?" That came out more like a mess of words. It was beyond understandable. Masako gave him a strange look. Ayako leaned over to Mai and whispered,

"Yup, they have major crushes on each other." Mai smiled. "They're just too chicken to admit it." She looked back at the necklace in John's hand. Then something else clicked in her brain. "Ayako, that's a butterfly necklace. Isn't it strange that _John_ would get it?"

"I dunno, maybe he has a secret liking for butterflies…?"

"It seems too feminine to be for a boy."

"No, it's not from me. That's not my handwriting, although it's close." Masako replied to John, after he finally unscrambled his tongue.

"Oh…"

"I think you two would make a lovely couple." Everyone turned to find Monk now. John and Masako blushed madly. "C'mon, John. It's getting late. We should retire soon."

"Oh right, everyone," They turned to Masako. "Lin-san said that Naru is being released tomorrow afternoon. The PK didn't take that great a toll on his body than we first thought."

"That's great news!" Mai exclaimed.

"Maybe we should try to hook you and Naru up." Monk muttered. Now it was Mai's turn to blush. Then she snapped out of it, remembering the necklace. She signaled John.

"Do you know anything about this?" He held it up.

"No…" He examined the box. "Well, it's not from any of us; Lin and Naru are at the hospital… it could be them, but I doubt it. Which leaves the psychics…"

"We already ruled them out." Mai informed. "We tested their handwriting."

"How?"

"We found their signatures on a get well card."

"You shouldn't have poked into their business, Mai." Masako cautioned.

"I know…"

"Which leaves… Yasu!" Just then, Yasu happened to walk by. He spied Monk.

"Takigawa, my love!" He gripped the poor Monk by the waist. Monk screamed and tried to push the idiot off him.

"I bet you 100 yen that it was him…" Ayako whispered to John.

"Done."

"I'm afraid to ask, but is this from you and who's it for?" Without bothering to look at the necklace, Yasu tightened his grip on Takigawa and replied,

"Yes, yes it's from me, to proclaim my love to you. Perhaps now you'll say the same?"

"Get off me!" There was a thud. "Now be serious here. Is it from you or not?" Yasu focused his glasses and looked hard. He thought for a minute…

"Nope, never seen it before in my life. But if it's a gift from you to me, I'm quite flattered."

"Shut up already!"

"That's not how lovers talk." And Monk was gone in ten seconds flat.

"He sure is fast…" Masako commented.

"Only when the Yasu monster attacks though…" Ayako muttered. "Other than that, Monk is a lazy [censored]."

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble…" John started, an expression of surprise written all over his face. "Please refrain from using that word from now on in my presence." Ayako hit him in the head.

"Hey, Masako," Yasu started. "What ever became of that spirit you saw?"

"Lin's Shiki? It's right here." She pointed to her neck. Everyone stared at her. "It's coiled around my neck. It seems to like clinging to me."

"Come on, Masako. You're cute, I'll give you that, but you're not irresistible." Ayako taunted.

"Matsuzaki-san, that was dirty." John commented.

"Well, I've had years of practice."

* * *

><p>Thor snarled to himself as the SPR moved back to their respective bases. The plan had gone wrong. In any case, <em>she<em> had better not be mixed up in all of this. He had to free her, and her exploding definitely wasn't part of the plan. And if she did explode, there would be hell to pay afterwards. The scent of _Mai_ was incredibly strong, and by the scents flowing from those people, the owner was the short brunette with big chocolate eyes. Thor, however, did not sense his target's presence with her. _She_ was elsewhere. Discarding the scent of _Mai_, he now traced _Indigo _and _Black._ But unbeknown to him was that when he found her, she would not be in the state he expected…

Suddenly, a whiff of another scent filled his nostrils. The five-tailed Ninetails was close, and ready to strike… He turned around. There came the yellow-eyed beast, pointy ears perked up in interest. Thor growled. Its five tails crashed where he was, but he jumped up and ran on the vertical wall made of cinderblock, out the window and down the street, prepared to track those other two scents. Whatever happened between Ninetails and the humans was none of his business.


	11. The wrath of Thor

Mai, Ayako, and Masako went back into the T-PO base, where Iwa and Ken were. They were both seated on the sofa. Iwa even had a glass of wine. Wow… talk about fancy… Just to let you know, Iwa is not an alcoholic. He likes the occasional drink every now and then. Ken was sweating.

"Hello there," Mai greeted. Ken nodded as Iwa replied with a weak 'hi'. "What's wrong with him?" Mai pointed to Ken.

"Oh, he spent the entire day chasing down Ni." Iwa replied. Mai had a faint recollection of who Ni was, but wasn't too sure.

"So, did he catch him?"

"No…" Ken whispered, letting out a fatigued sigh.

"Is he still naked?" Iwa added.

"Yes…"

"Was he the boy that I saw scampering down the hallway?" Ayako asked.

"Yup. Anymore questions?"

"Who's Vincent?" Iwa and Ken looked up and exchanged glances. "What's wrong?"

"Well… did we ever mention Vincent? Did Kura ever mention Vincent?"

"No…" Iwa replied.

"Then how did…"

"We saw the card on your desk, or rather, Taik's desk."

"Vincent is one of the members of the K-PO and was injured last week. Right now, he's in the hospital. He's supposed to be released tomorrow afternoon."

"That's when Naru's getting out of the hospital too." Masako commented. Ken nodded absentmindedly.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at the hospital, Naru was just dozing off; Lin was at the window with a book when he saw a shadow move in the road. It seemed to dash past in less than a second, so he gave it no mind. He hoped the others back at the mall weren't doing too badly. His Shiki seemed to pick up on his thoughts.<p>

"_I wonder what would happen if the Ninetails mauled them._" Pine suggested.

"_That's not nice, Pine._" Täke scolded.

"_Mauled at the mall, nice one._" Rokku admitted. Pine shot him a small smile. Then her ears pricked up. She looked around to find nothing, but a scent caught her nose. Thor! He _had_ come! The door burst open, jolting Naru awake and Lin to his feet. There stood the German shepherd, baring his teeth and growling mercilessly at the two. _Indigo_ and _Black_ were generating directly from those two humans. And underneath _Black_ was what he was searching for. Pine. However, she was transparent. That wasn't right… something was definitely wrong. Four dragons floated over _Black's_ head, all of them transparent as well. Thor immediately pounced. Lin ducked. _Black_ was a demon enslaver! That angered Thor more than anything, and it was time to get revenge for his fellow kind.

Lin summoned Täke, and she charged. Thor grabbed her in his strong jaw, tossing him Naru's way. She hit him in the head, knocking him completely unconscious. She growled and charged again, but Thor just bit down on her neck, and she went limp. Tossing her to the side, Thor focused on _Black_. Suddenly, the door burst open one more time to reveal a man with short black hair, black eyes, wearing a black shirt and pants, rocketing at Thor. After successfully shoving him aside, he grabbed Lin's hand and rushed out of the room, closing the door, and leaving Naru at the mercy of Thor.

But as they started to rush down the hallway, the five-tailed Ninetails jumped in their way. It rocketed all five tails at them. The stranger in black jumped back, but something prevented him from landing properly and he crashed into the wall. Lin was sent flying and he skidded to a halt on the floor. The Ninetails rounded on him. Lin fired Rokku, Long, and Shu, but nothing amounted. They all met the same fate as Täke. "_Where the hell is Billy-Bob_?" He demanded. His Shiki were too hurt to answer.

"_That wimp? Forget him! Send me!_" Pine growled. Lin hesitated. "_Send me! Do it now!_" He had no choice.

"_Pine!_" He whistled. Pine charged. However, she went right through the demon. That definitely wasn't good. However, the Ninetails stopped when it saw Pine. It backed away and said something in the language of wolf. Pine scowled. Then she growled and turned to Lin and the three Shiki. She tried to bite them, but she went right through them. That's when Billy-Bob appeared out of nowhere and struck Pine. She fell over in surprise. Lin whirled around to see the rest of the SPR. A little naked boy scampered past, stopped when he saw the Ninetails, and warped. Taik was with the SPR. She snapped her finger in frustration when the boy vanished. Monk began to chant and John threw holy water. The Ninetails backed off and ran away. However, it got away unscathed. Something was definitely up. They ran up to Lin, but Taik rushed to the stranger in black.

"Lin, are you alright?" Monk demanded.

"I'm fine. What of Naru?" They opened the door to see that Thor had Naru in a death grip. In no time at all, Lin had sent Billy-Bob at Thor, who jumped away. His teeth sliced a cut in Naru's throat. He tried to escape, but Monk grabbed his tail. In response, Thor tried to use his power of stone, but the floor was polished wood, not rock. So for the first time in his life, Thor was caught.


	12. The Deal of Demons

"How did you know?" Lin asked as they returned to base. Naru was in the backseat, with Ayako tending his wound (Naru is awake). Actually, everyone was in the backseat, except for Thor and Yasu, who were stuffed in the trunk. Yasu had volunteered. Thor hadn't.

"Ni is equipped with a GPS around his neck, and his location was that hospital." Taik explained. She had the floor of the car, and was sharing the space with the stranger in black. Monk and Lin were the ones with the most room, since they were both in front, being the biggest of them all. "Everyone, I want you to meet Vincent of the K-PO." Everyone except Lin (Yasu and Thor too, for various reasons…) greeted. Vincent nodded.

Well, the drive back was a nightmare. There was heavy traffic, and everyone was getting restless packed inside such a small car. Monk was about to yank the steering wheel and throw them off the road, for he too couldn't take much more of this madness. Comments flew across the space.

"Get off my toe!" Ayako screeched.

"I'm not on your toe!" Taik snapped.

"I'm trying to heal this idiot's neck, idiot!"

"I'm trying to breathe!"

"Breathe on your own time!" Thor shouted from the trunk.

"Don't eavesdrop on us! You've done enough!"

"Everyone shut up!" Lin yelled above everyone. It worked… only for a second though. It was all back to pointless shouting. Monk could've sworn the car was bouncing like crazy with all of this commotion. Well, the neighboring cars were certainly giving them crazy looks. At least they arrived in one piece… mostly… We can all say that Ayako chipped a few nails clawing Naru's face off for bickering so much. Well, okay, not literally, but he did have a few more scratches than he came out with.

They went back to base, to question the dog. "Why did you attack us?" Naru demanded.

"It was my mission."

"What's your mission?"

"That's classified."

"How are you able to speak?" Masako asked.

"Classified."

"How are you able to fight like that?" Naru took back the situation.

"Classified."

"What do you know about the Ninetails?"

"Classified."

"What do you know about Pine?" Lin asked. Thor spoke something other than 'classified'.

"It's _your fault_ that she's like that!" Everyone looked at him with a questioning glance. "We Hellhounds aren't meant to be your little _toys._ We are strong and ancient beings, considered Divine among the Gods. I am Thor, Hellhound Master of Earth and Metal. That green wolf you refer to is Pine, Hellhound Master of Wood and Poison. Because you have enslaved her, she will disappear from existence!"

"What?" Lin turned to Pine. "_Why didn't you say anything?_"

"_Because…_" Pine grumbled.

"You've been tracking us, haven't you?" Mai gasped. The shepherd eyed her like a piece of meat.

"You're a danger magnet, aren't you?" Thor countered. "Well don't worry; I am too. But unlike you, I don't bring the danger here… I CREATE IT!" Thor leapt into the air and came crashing down at Mai. Monk pushed her out of the way, taking the hit, fangs and all. He cringed as the bite broke bone. Being the Hellhound Master of Earth and Metal, Thor's bites were heavy and sharp. Monk held his shoulder and collapsed to the ground. Mai and Ayako used the nine cuts, but they simply bounced off his fur. "You really think that weak and amateur attack will damage me? In your dreams!"

He charged, grabbing Mai by the arm and flinging her into Ayako, knocking them both back. John stepped in front of Masako, protecting her. That did them no good as rock and metal sprung from the ground, sending them airborne. Lin rushed over and caught the two of them. Actually, more like rushed over and fell beneath them to cushion their fall. Finally, he faced Naru. He used a rock from the attack against Masako and John and shattered it, sending it out like bullets. It was the same attack he used on Ma, which shattered the windows.

"Naru, look out!" Lin screamed. Naru braced himself, but the hit never came. He opened his eyes to see Pine Forest Demon standing in front of him. She had solid vines sticking out of the ground, catching and blocking all of the shards.

"Pine?" Thor asked. However, that solid lasted no more than a minute, and she quickly faded back to spirit. The rocks fell.

"_Enough, Thor. This is getting us nowhere!_"

"It's our mission to destroy all who dare enslave the Demons!"

"_Yeah, and how are you going to do that? We're not even supposed to be here!_"

"Then get us home! Can you do that? Huh? Can you create a portal in midair with your own four paws? I don't think so! Demon enslavers are the ones who target and trap us within this dimension!"

"_And I am trapped as a Shiki, but do you see me making such a fuss?_"

"I will free you, don't you worry. But the only way I can do that is by summoning _her_. You and your captor must arrive tonight in order for the ritual of release to be done."

"_No, you must first promise not to harm him!_"

"How can you say that? He has imprisoned you!"

"_HE has done me no harm. HIS SHIKI were the ones who did this to me!_"

"Yeah, and say some parent lets a kid vandalize a store; is it her fault? Yes, it is. She is responsible for anything her child does. The same goes for the Demon enslaver!"

"_Promise me, you won't harm him!_"

"Pine,"

"_Promise me!_" There was a pause.

"I promise."

"_Fine, we will come to you tonight, at the stroke of ten._"

"Meet us six feet under. Come with the Enslaver _alone_. No friends, no Shiki, just the two of you. If you don't I will come and drag you there myself."

"_We'll be there, don't you worry._"

"You'd better be… for your sake." He glared at Lin before vanishing completely.


	13. Dead and Dying

"Well now what?" Ayako muttered.

"You're not going through with this, are you?" Mai exclaimed. Naru couldn't help notice a flash of gold around her neck.

"What's that?" He moved up to Mai and held her chin still as he examined the necklace.

"I thought you got rid of that!" Ayako shouted.

"It was just so pretty, and since no one knew where or who it was from, I decided it would do no harm to keep it."

"You shouldn't take things if you don't know anything about them, idiot." Naru muttered. "For all we know, that could be stolen merchandise."

"Hey, what did he mean by 'six feet under'?" Monk asked.

"I have no idea." Naru replied.

"Is it possible you could ask that green wolf?" Masako suggested to Lin.

"I could try…" He turned to Pine. "_What did he mean by-?_"

"_Yeah, yeah, I overheard you guys. I'm in the same room with you! And I can't tell you anything. I just have to lead you to the place. If I didn't, I wouldn't be holding up my end of the promise. We Demons may be liars, but we're not promise breakers._"

"She won't talk." Lin informed.

"Well, we can always make her talk," Yasu slid in.

"You can't even see her, and now you're talking about forcing her?" Ayako scoffed while hitting him.

"All we know is that Lin has to do this." Naru concluded. "We just have to wait and see."

And that's how it went. It was getting close to nine, and everyone was getting anxious. The SPR was a family, more or less… and if they took one away, the entire group would be shattered. Even if the target was someone like Lin. Mai was sulking, sitting next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She felt a wind stir in the room. She turned around to see the T-PO and the K-PO approaching.

"What is it?" Naru asked.

"We came to see if there was something we could do." Taik replied. Kura was obviously not happy.

"No, there's not."

"May we stay for a while?" Vincent asked. The SPR gave him a strange look. Iwa stepped in to clarify.

"We know how important this is for you, and how much you're risking. But when those two leave, you'll be most vulnerable."

"We're offering protection from anything that might happen during the meeting, morons." Kura spat.

"Kura, be nice." KJ lectured.

"I'm your boss; you have no right to tell me what to do."

"Should we?" Lin whispered. Everyone stopped and turned to him.

"_It's only nine-ten. We have fifty minutes._" Pine replied.

"_I hate being late for anything, even if it means my death._"

"_You won't die. A Demon always keeps his or her promise._" Pine rose to her paws, shook out her fur and started walking out of the room. Lin got up, put Mai's head down on the sofa, and started following Pine. Something held him back. He turned to see Mai gripping the end of his sleeve.

"Don't do this…" Lin softly took her hand off of his shirt and placed it by her side. He turned and left in silence. The necklace glimmered in the light. Mai hugged herself into a fetal position. Monk moved up to her and patted her head. "What do we do now?"

"We wait." Naru replied sternly.

"He's completely defenseless! He left all his Shiki with Masako!"

"Mai, calm down." Monk cautioned.

"But…"

"No buts. Lin's gonna be fine." Suddenly, Mai perked up. She ran to the monitors.

"There he is!" She pointed to one. Lin was walking past a camera. "We can watch and see what happens!"

"Yeah, but what if they go out of camera range? Or~" Suddenly, the cameras went full of static and blacked out, with the word 'Error' on the screen. "Or that happens…"

"But what if he gets killed?"

"He won't." Ayako reassured. "He's the strongest of all of us, well, excluding Naru, and remember in the Cursed House case?"

"Uh-huh…"

"He knows a different form of the nine cuts. He still has one method of defense."

* * *

><p>After disabling all the cameras, the Ninetails waited for her prey to arrive. Little did she know, a promise had been made. And true to the way of Demons, she could not disrespect a promise.<p>

* * *

><p>Pine led Lin down to the main floor of the building. She slipped through the floor. Lin was startled by this, but then noticed a sewer pipe. <em>The sewer connects to the mall?<em> He shrugged. Frankly, this was his first time in a mall, so he had no idea, really. He lifted the sewer plate and jumped down. Well, this made sense… the sewers were definitely six feet under. Why couldn't Thor have made that more clear? He looked around to see Pine sitting in front of him. There, Thor was lying in wait, surprised to see his 'guests' half an hour early.

"Why are you here now?" He demanded.

"_Lin insisted upon not being late._" Pine replied.

"I like him. But she's not expecting us for half an hour, so I insist we wait until the time comes. Our meeting place is just down the sewer."

"Why are you doing this, again?" Lin slid in.

"I am forbidden from telling you anything." Thor snarled. Lin took a seat against the wall. Pine put her paws over his legs and lied down. Thor just sat there, eyeing Lin carefully. It looked like he was sizing up the enemy. Then he remembered something, something good. He kept his poker face till the very last minute before ten and then said, "Well then, Enslaver, I hope you said a good farewell to your friends," Lin's eyes widened in fear. Had Thor broken his promise and decided to kill him? Would this meeting be the end of him? "Because THEIR TIME IS UP!"

"What?"

_**DOOONNNNGGGG!**_The clock struck ten.

"What the hell was that?" Lin yelled. The sound of an explosion wrung through the sewers.

"_What did you do?_" Pine snarled at Thor.

"Your idiot friend took the bait- that little butterfly necklace of solid gold. And now, they will join us at six feet under!"

"_The SPR was a target? That was your plan?_"

"No, not really… the necklace was for that rat Taik. But I guess the fact that all of the psychics along with the SPR were in the same room, we've killed two birds with one stone."

"How dare you!" Lin forgot all about the 'truce' and used the nine cuts. "Rin Pyou Tou Sha Kai Jin Retsu Zai Gyou!" Thor jumped up; the nine cuts made scores in the earth. He leapt onto the Onmyouji's back, and he crashed the dog into the wall.

"_Don't fight!_" Pine screamed, but to no avail. "_Don't fight, DON'T FIGHT!_" They finally stopped. Lin had scratches on his back and shoulders, but Thor was completely unscathed. "_She might hear you!_"

Drops of water started to fall into the sewage, like footsteps. But they came in rounds of four, like a four-footed animal was coming this way. Lin froze as a shadow started to form. It became the silhouette of a nine-tailed fox. It had nine tails, and it was at least the size of diplodocus, one of the larger sauropods. It did not speak. Instead, it roared a cry of pure demonic energy. A red light flashed from Lin's chest, shooting at Pine, whose body absorbed it. She became solid, freed from the bounds of the spirit world. Now, all her features were visible. Her ears were torn, her teeth were coated with blood, and she had a green lion-like mane, coated with thistle-like hairs. After the transfer of light was complete, Lin fell to the ground, barely conscious. The silhouette disappeared; its part had been played. Pine was released. The five-tailed Ninetails appeared out of the shadows. It glared down at the 'enslaver'. But a promise had been made. Lin was not to be harmed… well, not by _it_ anyway. So the beast grabbed him and tossed him into a janitor's closet. Well, whatever a janitor's closet was doing down here, it was none of their business. The Ninetails then broke a water pipe, inserted it into the vent leading into the closet, and turned tail, stalked off, with Thor right at its heels. Pine gave a last look and followed. Her allegiance lied with Thor and her mistress.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the psychics had, thankfully, been able to react very quickly to the explosion. They put themselves in front of each SPR member, shielding them from the flying debris and stuff. The smoke was definitely unbearable. ZK and Ma hastily began shoving smoke out of the broken windows. The fire department was on the scene pronto. Water rocketed in through the holes where the windows were. As badly shaken as everyone was, they all knew someone was missing. Taik was suddenly overcome with a vision. ZK looked over.<p>

"What did you see?" Taik easily shook herself of the vision, not phased by it at all.

"Mai Taniyama died in the explosion."


	14. Allies and Traitors

"MAI!" The whole SPR was screaming her name.

"If she's dead, then where's her body?" Ayako practically screeched into Taik's face, while shaking her by the shoulders. Taik seemed reluctant to respond. "WHERE?" She looked up to see a chip of red and white on Ayako's shoulder.

"What's that?" She pointed to it. Ayako swiped it up with her finger. She rolled it around in her hand for a good few seconds.

"What…"

"It's a bone fragment." ZK explained as he examined it.

"It's Mai's bone fragment." The SPR stopped and stared at the young psychic. "Look around the room." The whole place was covered in blood and burned flesh. "Mai Taniyama is all over this room."

"Oh gross!" KJ whined. Kura slapped her.

"No, she's not dead!" Monk growled.

"Dude, she _blew up!_ What more proof do you need?" Kura yelled.

"She's~"

"It was her own stupidity that got her killed! Hell, that necklace could've been the end of all of us!"

"Do _not_ talk about Mai like that!"

"Wake up and smell the reality, bozo! Mai was a danger magnet and frankly, a very weak psychic, if a psychic anyway! She could never have lasted one second against any of you, let alone what we're up against!"

"SHUT UP!" Ayako and Monk snapped.

"No, _you_ shut up!"

"Kura!" the tall man in the tux hissed.

"Quiet, Aid! I never said you could speak!"

"What are you so fired up about?" Ken growled. Kura rounded on him.

"!" All the commotion stopped to see Kit standing in the doorway. "Why the hell are you all arguing like this? The Ninetails grows more powerful by the second!"

"At this rate, we could all be in danger!" Taik added.

"What do you suggest we do about it?" Kura snorted.

"We should summon that fox-face and give it the battle of its lifetime." Ma roared.

"Come on!" Kura led the charge as the rest of the K-PO ran with her. Suddenly, Vincent stopped. Taik watched him.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Nothing, let's go." Kit watched as the T-PO followed him. Then she dashed off after them.

Monk punched the bloodstained wall. Tears were streaming down his face, of both grief and anger. Ayako was seated on the sofa, still trying to take in what had just happened. Yasu and John were regaining consciousness in the corner, still yet to be informed about the loss. Masako was holding all five of Lin's shiki close to her body, silently weeping. Naru was leaning against the wall; hand on chin, lost in thought.

"What do we do, Naru?" Ayako muttered.

"I say we kick that fox-face's ass!" Monk screamed. "First Lin and then Mai!"

"No, calm yourself." Naru interrupted.

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't trust Kit."

"Huh? What does that have to do with anything?"

"She lied to us twice, why should we trust her again?"

"About what?"

"She said the Ninetails grows more powerful by the second. But think, how would she know that?" The SPR paused to think about that. "Kit's story just doesn't make sense."

"But what do we do?" Ayako repeated.

"I'd say we search for Lin."

"All of us?" Monk asked. "What about the base?"

"Forget base. Once we find Lin, we're leaving. Load the van; start taking down the equipment." They all started to do it, but without their usual vigor and enthusiasm. The reason was obvious. Everything was set inside the van in record time. The SPR armed themselves to the teeth in case the Ninetails should catch them. They swore that nobody else of their team would end up like Mai. Then it was off to search for the missing Lin.

* * *

><p>Pine Forest Demon, Thor Earth Demon, and Master Ninetails were now reunited, but Pine still had a bad feeling inside her stomach. She had never felt it before. Whatever it was, it was telling her to go back to save the enslaver. She knew exactly where he was, and what his situation was. He would drown inside that closet. The door was sealed shut, and the water pipe leading into it would flood the room.<p>

"Pine?" Thor asked as he waited for the green Demon to catch up.

"Nothing," Pine curtly replied. Thor raised an eyebrow. Master Ninetails did not wait for them to catch up, and he just continued pacing forward. Suddenly, he stopped, ears perking up. His five tails quivered as he turned around. He heard their footsteps approaching. Those damned psychics were back. It was time to finish this once and for all. But before he could make the first move, the feeling inside Pine's gut became too much to bear and she dashed off without another word.

"Not again!" Thor yelled in exasperation. He was about to go catch her when Master Ninetails cut him off.

"Don't bother with her. If she wants to be an enslaver's puppet, then let her be that way."

* * *

><p>Lin was awakened by the touch of cold water against his chest. He was sitting against the wall of a dark room. Multiple tall, thin, solid objects were intertwined with him, leaving him in a very uncomfortable position. He looked around, still waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. He could hear the sound of water lapping at his clothes and a stream of it rushing down from aloft. He felt around and his hand found its way to a doorknob. He tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge. Suddenly, he snapped out of his absent state and became aware of the severity of the situation. He was stuck in some sort of small room, there was no way out, and water was rising. He guessed that the ritual happened about half an hour ago, and the water had already risen two feet. The ceiling was a few inches higher than he was. He knew he was about six-foot two, and at this rate, he would drown in seventy minutes, give or take a few. However, that only applied to the fact that he'd be standing. Right now, he was trapped under a bunch of brooms and mops, all tangled together. So with that in the equation, he would drown in less than half an hour. He tried the door again, but there was no result. So be rammed himself into it. Still nothing. So he went with plan B. He pounded on the door and started yelling for help. The extra stuff intertwined with his body did not help at all. He tried to get loose, but everything was just too tight.<p>

The water had risen to his shoulders. He struggled more frantically, trying to break free. The broom and the mop had his right arm in a joint lock, so when he yanked, his shoulder became dislocated. He stifled a cry of pain. But never the less, he was standing. He still had a chance to get out. His left hand felt around for anything that could bust him out, and when he felt the light switch, he flipped it. There was an overhanging bulb that gave him very inadequate light. The water was rising and it reached his waist. The sink next to him was completely submerged. However, the light switch probably sealed his doom, since a part of the wire, which ran down the wall to the floor, wasn't covered with rubber, and the water just reached it. And just in case you didn't know, water conducts electricity. A sudden burning, searing, zapping pain was sent careening through Lin's body. He could no longer focus on escape. The water was rising. It had reached his bottom rib. It seemed as if he had miscalculated; he woke up five minutes after the ritual. So at this rate, he would drown in about ten. He had only ten more minutes to live. He tried to fight past the electrocuting pain to scream for help, but he only managed a few words. He was now leaning against the wall for support, holding his right shoulder.

The water was now at his throat. The electricity was still on. He turned off the switch, but that still didn't help. Electricity still flowed through that faulty wire. The water was now at his chin, his nose, and his eyes, and then the ceiling. He looked down to see that the door had been sealed so there were no cracks. He ran out of air. Then he blacked out.

* * *

><p>Pine hoped she was not too late. Rushing to the sealed door, she started banging her way at it. Touching the doorknob, she felt the sting of electricity. That angered her a little bit. So she drove her claws into the floor, summoning thick vines with thorns and thistles out of the ground. They catapulted themselves into the door, breaking it down. Water, electricity, janitor supplies, and a human all spilled out. Pine checked Lin for vital signs. He had stopped breathing, and she couldn't hear a heartbeat. She placed her paws on his chest, thrusting forcefully.<p>

"Come on, come on!" She hissed. Seconds passed like minutes, and minutes passed like hours. Time suddenly returned to normal as Lin coughed up water. He was alive! Spasms shook him as Pine realized they should get out of the electric water. While dragging him to a dry place, she also noticed his shoulder was dislocated. She purposefully grabbed him by his shoulder and bit down, snapping the bones back into place. Lin yelped, sending him completely awake. He looked at her. "Wake up!"

"Pine? You came back?"

"Yeah, what of it? I only did it because of that stupid feeling in my gut… I've never felt it before."

"Was it guilt?"

"Shame on me if it was. Demons do not feel _guilt_." She tested the word on her tongue. "And if it wasn't for that feeling, you'd be six feet under! Figuratively!" Lin smiled at her, but said nothing else, not wanting to push his luck.

"What now?"

"There's going to be a war between you, those measly psychics, and Master Ninetails."

"We have to help them!" Lin exclaimed while rising to his feet. "Which way?"

"That way." She pointed from the direction she came from. He started to go that way, but she stepped in his path. "I'm only letting you do this because it was master's orders."

"What?"

"Classified." She ran down the sewer as Lin followed.

* * *

><p>The T-PO and the K-PO were getting closer. They could sense it. Old fox-face wasn't that far away. As a matter of fact, he had stopped walking and turned to wait for his challengers. Kit was trailing close behind. The SPR was hot on her tail. All of them were present, with Lin and Pine not far behind.<p>

"Lin!" Naru exclaimed.

"I'm fine." His assistant replied.

"Pine…" The Ninetails hissed. Pine stepped away from the enslaver and to Master Ninetails' side.

"Pine! I thought you were on our side!" Lin yelled.

"Don't be stupid. I was only repaying a debt. You brought me to the physical world; I saved your life."

"What about that feeling?"

"Sure, I felt it, but now that my debt is repaid, the rest is irrelevant. I will _crush_ you!"

"I'm glad to see that the old Pine is back," Thor growled. Kura stepped forward. She raised her hands into the air, and then brought them crashing down to the ground. The air pressure suddenly increased around Pine, Thor, and Master Ninetails. They were forced to the ground.

"KJ, go!" Kura ordered. KJ suddenly exploded in a blast of light. When it cleared, there were multiple figures of her. Naru could tell that they were all illusions, but they had their own mass and physical form. The illusions attacked the Demons. They weren't expecting them to break out of the hold of the air, but they did. They ripped themselves from the ground. Master Ninetails' five tails came crashing down on all of KJ's illusions. Then it was Thor's turn to attack. He charged head on, jumped into the air, and landed, creating a crater in the cement. Rocks sprouted upwards, and he used their fragments like a machine gun. ZK sped forward, turning into a Komodo dragon. He used his tail to deflect the shots. Ken fired his aura at the shepherd. Thor dodged and attacked Masako. She was holding Japanese metal fans. She effectively blocked all of the dog's melee attacks, while counterattacking with a few swipes. Monk began to chant. It only seemed to affect the Ninetails slightly. Lin whistled. All five of his Shiki launched into the air. The two dogs easily ripped them to shreds. The Komodo dragon grabbed Pine by the throat and began to wrestle with her. SS, Aid, and Ma were all trying to take on Thor. The rest of the K-PO and T-PO were focusing their energy on the Ninetails.

Whatever it was, it was definitely an all-out war between the groups. Fire and explosions were everywhere. Blood was shed. It had only been what, twenty minutes, and the psychics were already panting.

"Worn out already?" Ninetails snickered. He lifted his five tails, and the five elements, which they mastered, started to spiral from them. "The fun was just beginning, too!"

"Kit, why aren't you fighting?" Taik exclaimed.

"Kit, don't just stand there like a blundering idiot, do something!" Kura ordered like the brat she was. _I still have them all fooled, don't I_? Kit wondered, a twisted smile slowly creeping its way across her face.

"Kit, do something!" Aid snapped. Kit looked at him. _They're all fooled._ Suddenly, she saw the glare from Oliver Davis. _Shit, with that glare I just received… does he know? No, it's not possible._

"Kit!" _Fine, they want me to do something?_ Kit held out her hand, palm upward, at the Ninetails.

"What are you doing?" Dark demonic energy started to swirl around her neck and in her hand. It then turned into a beaded necklace and a staff shaped like a silver cross. She lurched into the air, swinging the staff high, and bringing it crashing down onto the Ninetails' head. It exploded into dark spore-like flakes of energy.


	15. The Final Battle

"She…"

"She took it down with one hit!" Kit turned around to face the other psychics. They could see her new items completely now. The necklace she had on had nine beads, five of which were dull and lifeless. Attached to the end of the necklace was a kitsune mask.

"Don't turn away, what about Pine and Thor?" Nao exclaimed. With that said, Pine and Thor approached Kit, but instead of tearing her to shreds, they bowed before her.

"What are they doing?" The dark spores formed five spheres, red, blue, green, silver, and tan, for Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth. Those five spheres went into the five dull beads. "What are _you_ doing?"

"And now, here comes the part where I double-cross you." She started to laugh evilly, her voice growing deeper and more distorted. She put the kitsune mask over her face, and the nine beads disbanded. They floated behind her, forming nine shadowy tails. There was a dark explosion, and Kit's form was replaced with that of a huge fox, smoky purple, wearing the exact same kitsune mask. Nine ghastly tails sprouted from her rear end, like a menorah. The staff was resting on its back. All of the psychics stood there in shock.

"What the…" Naru gasped.

"Kit? I thought you were a night guard!" Taik exclaimed.

"Oops, I lied." The Ninetails with nine tails replied, laughing. "And my name is not Kit, it's Demoness Ninetails!"

"But what was that other Ninetails with only five tails?" Monk added.

"My doppelganger! You see, I'm after something, and I had no idea what it was, rather, who it was, so I created a Ninetails with five of my own tails so I could do some undercover work as Kit, the night guard. But my Demons found nothing, and the little detour with Pine and the _enslaver_ held things back."

"And what about Mai?" Ayako demanded.

"What about Mai?"

"You _killed_ her!"

"I didn't kill her; she killed herself with her stupidity! And anyways, I didn't put that necklace outside Taik's door; that was Thor's doing. She should've listened to you when she had the chance, Matsuzaki."

"What's your purpose for being here?" Naru yelled.

"Some _psychic _brought us here and trapped us within this dimension! I am here to settle the score! You think it was an _accident_ that your plane crashed, Oliver Davis?" Naru glanced over. He thought his eyes were tricking him when he saw Vincent flinch.

"That was _you_?" Lin gasped.

"No duh, and it was also me when the guards from the hospital died! Let the Planet Earth hear my cry! All psychics will perish!" Her blood-red eyes flashed towards the T-PO, K-PO, and the SPR. Her nine tails flew into the air, and then careened into the ground, creating spouts of Fire, Water, Earth, Metal, Wood, Electricity, Wind, Darkness and Light. Her mouth reached around to grab the cross-staff, and hammered it at the psychics. They all flew back. The elements spewing out of the ground started to target any opponents who Ninetails was too busy to deal with. The odds were stacked hopelessly against the psychics. Any chants and exorcisms performed bounced right off the Demons' fur, not to mention it only made them angrier.

Pine had made it her personal business to crush Lin, as she had promised. It didn't take her long 'till she had his throat in her jaws. She was about to bite down when she heard voices. They were barely audible, but Pine could just make out the words,

"_What are you doing?_"

"Long?"

"_Pine-san, stop it! Think about what you're doing!_"

"Täke?"

"_Don't be like me! Quit while you're ahead!_"

"Billy-Bob!"

"_Don't do anything rash, or you'll regret you ever existed!_"

"Rokku?"

"_Pine-san!_"

"Shu~" Pine let go of Lin's neck, but still kept him pinned. "Just try and stop me!"

"_We will! We are Lin-dono's shiki! We've stopped you from killing our master once; we can do it again!_"

"_Again?_" Lin glanced over at Shu.

"_When we first met, we 'enslaved' Pine to keep her from finishing off the survivors of the crash! I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier; please forgive us, Lin-dono!_"

"Enough of your petty explanations!" Pine jumped up and snapped her teeth. The Shiki dodged, just barely. Lin kicked upwards, sending the Demon flying.

"_Pine, just hear us out!_" Long yelled, desperately trying to avoid the wolf's flailing teeth.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say!"

"_I understand your rage towards the psychics, but don't you think a whole genocide is taking it too far?_"

"A Demon can _never_ take things too far!" Her fangs reached towards the Onmyouji and tore his throat open- the second loss of this battle.

"_You… you __**monster**__!_" Täke snarled. All five of them pounced her and mauled her mercilessly. Monk and Naru surrounded their fallen comrade, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was too late. The light had already left Lin's eyes. The SPR fought like wild animals, resorting to almost anything. They had had enough. A shrill scream pierced the air.

"Stop, all of you!" Everyone turned around to see that Demoness Ninetails had Taik by the throat, dangling aloft in her jaws. "Unless you want this girl to die!"

"You COWARD!" ZK cried.

"Shut up! A win is a win, no rules! You two beat them to death!" Thor leapt right to it, pouncing the Komodo dragon. Pine didn't move. The Shiki had stopped attacking, in fear of loosing another life. _Isn't genocide going too far_? Pine was looming over the deed she had just done and couldn't hold it in any longer. In the blink of an eye, she had fastened her teeth to Demoness Ninetails' nose. Ninetails dropped Taik in surprise.

"Pine, what are you doing?" Thor yelled.

"This has gone far enough!" She growled. "You cannot achieve anything by committing a genocide!"

"I can achieve the guarantee that what happened to us will not happen again!" Ninetails snarled, shaking Pine off. Thor grabbed Pine by the neck.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Have _you_?"

"What?"

"Can't you see that what you're doing will backfire on us?"

"Backfire?"

"The more we fight the humans, the more they will come after us! And we should avoid killing to begin with!"

"What has the enslaver done to your brain?"

"Why can't you see the reality?"

"Humans haven't even broken out of the Sol Solar System and you're already complaining about their revenge!"

"A life is a life, no matter what! And even though Demoness Ninetails has the power to raise them from the dead, it doesn't change the fact that we killed unmercifully."

"Fine, if you've lost your mind, then I'll just have to knock some sense into you!" Thor and Pine were suddenly locked in savage combat. There was clawing, fur flying, blood splashing, and lots of fangs. Demoness Ninetails was busy destroying the T-PO, the K-PO, and the SPR. They wouldn't last much longer. John had a gash in his arm, Monk had multiple cuts around his body, and Yasu was unconscious in the corner of the area. The psychics were loosing. Suddenly, a flash of white materialized out of nowhere, careening into the Ninetails.

"What is that?" Monk exclaimed.

"That's my brother!" Naru yelled as he saw the ghost's eyes. "That's Gene!"

"Pathetic spirit!" Ninetails roared. Her tail of Darkness came crashing down on Gene, sending the spirit into the sewer water. Suddenly, she lurched forward, having been hit by something. She turned around to face Ni, with a portal right behind him.

"Ni!" Taik happily announced. She watched as the portal closed behind him. That gave her an idea. She yelled over to the SPR. "Keep her distracted!" Ninetails didn't hear because she was preoccupied with Ni, who kept teleporting around her body, confusing her. The T-PO and the K-PO all joined hands in a big circle. Ni had joined the circle too, leaving the SPR to hold its own. Thor and Pine were still locked in combat. The psychics began to chant and focus their energy into one big move. A pink ball started to form in their circle. It got bigger and bigger until it was about as tall as Ninetails herself. When it was done, Taik called out to the SPR again. "Focus all your energy on pushing the three of them into the circle!"

"What?" Monk demanded.

"Just do it!" With that said, all of the psychics started to focus their energies once more. Monk chanted, Ayako prayed, John splashed holy water, Ken fired aura blasts, ZK spat poison, Iwa threw rocks at her, Ma tried to shove the other two dogs into the hole as well, and Naru prepared his PK. Neither Lin nor Mai were there to stop him. All attacks hit dead on, but the PK blast was late. The little ones bounced off Ninetails' fur like lasers and a mirror. The PK finally fired, hitting the Demoness square in between the eyes. She was pushed back only a little, but her middle tail was very close to touching the sphere. Her eye caught hold of it.

"I see what you're trying to do!" She spat. "You're trying to trap me in a gap between time and space!"

"Well just because you know about it doesn't mean we still can't try!" Kura spat.

"Yes it does, as a matter of fact!" Ninetails reared all of her tails, and then sent every single one of them into the rip in the space-time continuum, shattering it. The T-PO and K-PO stood there in shock. She was actually able to shatter a rip in the space-time continuum! That was almost physically impossible, even for Divine Beings!

"What now?" Ayako asked.

"Nothing," Taik replied.

"What the hell does that mean?" Monk thundered.

"It means nothing. She's too strong." Kura informed.

"So we just sit here for her to crush us?"

"I'm afraid so…"

"No!" Everyone turned to face one last hope. There stood Vincent, shaking slightly, but there was that unmistakable determination in his eyes. "Demoness Ninetails, how would you like to make one last deal?"


	16. The Last Deal

"How would you like to make one last deal?" Vincent stood in between the psychics and the Demons. Even Thor and Pine had stopped fighting. Ninetails' kitsune mask swung around to face the teenager. "If the one who dragged you into this world steps forward and submits, will you _promise_ to bring back everyone who has died because of you and your demons, and then leave humanity alone for a century?"

"You know who did this to us?"

"Only until after the deal is made will I tell you anything else!" Ninetails eyed him warily. After five minutes of inspection, she replied.

"It's a deal."

"Good. Now revive the souls you and your Demons have taken."

"No; I want the culprit first."

"If the culprit reveals himself or herself now, will you promise to revive them first? The culprit probably wishes to see his or her friends raised again."

"The culprit has to promise not to run or fight back."

"Fine, it's a deal. Do you promise to accept these terms?"

"I do."

"Swear by the Elemental Demons."

"I swear." Vincent looked around, scanning each and every one of the psychics. All of their faces were stitched with horror. Who could've done it? Is it you? Is it me? Vincent whirled around to face Ninetails. "I am the culprit." The T-PO and the K-PO's jaws dropped.

"What?"

"_YOU!_" Ninetails' tails lashed out in anger.

"We had a deal! Revive those you've slaughtered."

"**You** did this?" Kura demanded.

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"It was on that plane ride from England. That's the reason why I was in the hospital. The plane crashed. Koujo Lin and Oliver Davis weren't the only survivors. I summoned that storm using Davis' PK. I have the power of mind control, you see. After studying to become part of the K-PO, I wanted to see how much strength a human could actually hold before he or she exploded, and when I sensed Davis' PK, I knew I had to test it. I wasn't expecting it to veer out of control, and the plane to crash, but it did. So by using my powers as a psychic, I summoned help, any help. I just didn't expect it to be you, Demoness Ninetails."

"Vincent, I know you're only 16 and all, but what you did was _wrong_." Taik growled.

"You don't think I know that? That's why I'm punishing myself." He turned to the Demoness. "Well? Rejuvenate the dead and take me instead!" Demoness Ninetails roared; a red light flowed from her mouth. All of those who died were brought back, including Mai, Lin, and Gene. Then she grabbed Vincent in her jaws, disappeared into the shadows, and finally, went into her own dimension, with Pine and Thor right beside her. Why couldn't she return home before? Perhaps it was because the grudge held her to Earth.

"What do we do without Vincent?" Ni whined.

"Well, when this is all over, he's in a hell of a lot of trouble." Kura growled.

"What do you mean by that? I thought Ninetails just took him!" Monk exclaimed.

"She thought she took him. KJ?" Everyone turned to face KJ.

"I can make replicas of other people, not just myself, you know!" She posed, with the real Vincent climbing out of the murky sewer water behind her.

"But since we tricked that Demoness, she'll figure it out soon enough, so it's best if we return to Planet Saturn to avoid further… damage…" Taik smiled. "Besides, my insurance doesn't cover all this."

"Taik, you don't have insurance." Kura muttered.

"Wait, you guys are from Saturn?" Mai asked.

"YOU SAW ALL THAT?" The psychics exclaimed.

"Of course; we were inside Ninetails' tails the whole time. We saw _everything_."

"Ken," Taik turned to her teammate. Ken nodded. Then she turned to the SPR. "This may have been one of the best cases you've ever taken, but for you, we all agree that these events are best forgotten."

"What do you~" Lin was cut off by Ken putting his hand to his forehead, making him black out. Next came the Shiki, then Naru, Mai, Yasu, Monk, Ayako, Masako, and even Gene. The people Demoness Ninetails had raised also had their memories erased. Taik turned to the T-PO and the K-PO.

"Well, we have a long way to go, and little time to get there. I suggest we get moving." They were gone before anyone came to.

* * *

><p>"Mai, tea." It was just another normal day at the SPR HQ; Naru the narcissistic jerk was demanding tea from Mai. Ayako and Monk were fighting over something ridiculous, like always. Yasu was at school, Masako was calmly sipping tea, but squeezing in a blush and glance at John Brown, who was also doing the same, but hiding his face under a book. Gene was trying to engage in a fruitful conversation with his brother (being hit by a car and dead for the last year leaves the two of them with a lot of catching up to do), but it doesn't help if your brother happens to be the jerkiest jerk on the planet. And Lin was typing in the lounge area.<p>

And since the psychics have a thing for forgetting things, they forgot about one very important object; the lamppost was still sticking out of Lin's office. Naru had already called a guy to come fix it, but that would take a while. Plus, nobody knew how it got there, or what happened to Monday through Friday that week. Everyone just agreed to assume that aliens had taken over the world right under their noses and erased their memory of the last five days.

They also agreed to never speak of it again, no matter how frighteningly familiar it sounded.

* * *

><p>Now that that's over with... I've always wanted to write a story that stared Lin and his Shiki, because Lin's Shiki never get any of the highlight... which is understandable, but I decided to shake things up a bit. Oh, and I was very tired of Monk's chant and Lin's Shiki always driving the spirit away on the first go (spirits now always seem so weak; I needed to create a stronger antagonist that was immune to all of that chanting and Shiki-ness), and Mai being the target just wasn't my cup of tea. I tried to do something else.<p>

I hope you enjoyed it, and reviews are appreciated, especially constructive criticism. If you find a typo, please let me know via review! I would also just like to hear what you thought of it, even though I myself am very proud of it.

By the way, you can find more info on the T-PO and K-PO by reading "Everyone Knows Psychics Don't Exist Right?" a Bones Fanfiction.

~Fin~


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